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Sarasota police tell homeless to move their camp

Deborah Hines, left, talks with Lt. Corrine Stannish, center, and Officer Gerry Pucci, right, with the Sarasota Police Department. Hines got help from Trinity Without Borders in bagging up her belongings and has made arrangements to store them, but she is not sure where she is going to go. Sarasota Police officers issued notices to homeless people living along Florida Avenue that they have five days to remove their belongings from the public sidewalk or the property will be seized.

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 11:40 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 5:27 p.m.

SARASOTA - A team of Sarasota police officers quietly placed written warnings Wednesday morning on tents and piles of property belonging to homeless residents camping in the 900 block of Florida Avenue.

Deborah Hines, left, talks with Lt. Corrine Stannish, center, and Officer Gerry Pucci, right, with the Sarasota Police Department. Hines got help from Trinity Without Borders in bagging up her belongings and has made arrangements to store them, but she is not sure where she is going to go. Sarasota Police officers issued notices to homeless people living along Florida Avenue that they have five days to remove their belongings from the public sidewalk or the property will be seized.

STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG

The operation was low-key, sedate and conducted without much fuss.

No arrests were made.

No one was rousted to another part of the city.

The property owners now have five days to move their belongings, or police will remove them and bill the owners for storage costs.

Sarasota Police Lt. Corinne Stannish, who led the operation, said it was in response to more than two dozen complaints from neighbors and parents who drop their children off at the nearby Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences. One parent said a homeless man was urinating in public as they drove by with their children, Stannish said.

The written warnings came after a month of verbal warnings, police said.

Stannish appeared more concerned about finding a place where the homeless can safely store their belongings than in making arrests.

“Were trying to find storage space, for their clothes and bedding,” she said. “We're working with social services.”

Stannish asked anyone with extra room, who is willing to house the property, to call her at (941) 364-7367.

The way the Sarasota Police Department views homelessness has changed.

“Our approach is one where we will still be enforcing the law — that's our job — but we also know that just moving homeless people from place to place is not effective,” said Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino.

DiPino is looking to hire a civilian to help people get into transitional housing — a half-way house or a house — in addition to finding resources to help the homeless cope with addiction or mental health issues.

“The only way to solve homelessness is to get people into homes,” DiPino said. “Per city ordinance, you can't abandon property on public property. The officers today were not just telling the people to move their stuff, they were trying to find a place for these people to store their stuff.”